The Jenkins Effect
by Alex192827456
Summary: Normal! At least everything about Alex appeared to be at first glance. Now a man clad in futuristic armor popped up in the middle of Alex's life and declared himself her husband. Richard Jenkins came to Seattle to find the one person who could change the entire future for Jane Shepard and her battle against the reapers. How can he convince Alex to come back to where she belongs
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Shattering Reality**

"Are you freaking kidding me?" It took all I had not to slam the remote control of the PlayStation console into television screen in front of me. I knew the outburst would catch the attention of the gaggle of jocks in the other room huddled around the TV, but it slipped my mind.

"Hey, keep it down in there!" My brother yelled over the choir of grown men's grunts from the other room. "Some of us are trying to watch T.V." Their weekly event held at our two bedroom apartment came to a halt. The sister started to yell and pulled their attention from the giant lummox's who pummeled each other for million dollar paychecks.

"Shut your face, Brett!" I answered back to him before I tossed the remote on the bed beside me. No matter how many times I played Mass Effect 2, I continued to end up with a renegon Shepard and a dead Mordin Solis. I liked Garrus too much to wait until I collected the Salarian scientist from the wards, but it meant he died on every play through.

"Don't make me come in there!" Brett shouted at me once more. "Cause you know I will!"

"Do it then!" I rolled over on my bed to stare at the ceiling and brushed my fingers through my blonde hair. I knew damn well he wouldn't actually dare to pound on my door until I let him in, at least not with five other guys in the living room. Brett kept his male bonding out of my room, an agreement we came to years ago when I turned eighteen.

I heard a few snorts and jeers at Brett's expense, but sure enough, no beating on door to let him in. I sighed and flopped back over to see the credits scroll over the screen. I spent the better half of two weeks on the latest run through of the Mass Effect universe to get the same results as the million other times I played the game. What luck.

"Seriously. How does anyone get through this thing without getting pissed off?" I curled into a ball and growled before I crept to the edge of the bed to peer at the time. The clock on the nightstand told me the sun went down hours ago, and the air should be cool enough I didn't overheat on my daily run.

In two hours I needed to work on the N7 cosplay armor that littered my bedroom floor. I looked like the normal, bobble head blonde on the outside, but in one week Comic Con came to the city of Seatlle. I wanted the armor perfected before then in order to make a real debut.

I laced up my tennis shoes and pulled on some red running shorts. The only chance to go on my run at eleven at night meant Brett needed to be preoccupied enough with the boys he didn't care. The game only lasted so long.

"Bye!" I bolted out the door, grabbing my cell phone and earbuds in a tizzy before Brett could utter a word. Eleven pm didn't seem late to most, but he worried about the downtown streets of the city near the bay. Drunks and homeless seemed to pose a threat in his eyes, even if I never understood personally.

Since I could remember, Brett watched over me. Our parents lived on opposite sides of the country in order to ensure they never ran into one another. My brother and I lived with my Uncle in Texas until Brett turned eighteen and ventured out on his own. I lasted with my Uncle for eight months before Brett came back for me. It seemed the Ellison kids liked each other too much to live so far apart.

Brett whisked me away to the grand city of Seattle, which didn't end up so badly for me either. Weekends meant hunting or fishing, weekdays meant work and school. I had grown up in self-defense classes and track meets. The only time Brett allowed me to date came in the form of an internet relationship where we never stood a chance of meeting in real life.

As Brett put it, "You seem like a fully functional chick, cept' you have these _tendencies_ I just can't figure." Translated, it meant I liked things outside of the conventional redneck realm my brother lived in. Books and gaming became hobbies as I finished school. Brett never grasped the ideas himself and decided to leave me to my own devices once I graduated.

I reached the convention center I stopped at stared at the letters on the side of the building. Soon enough people who really understood the core of my fascination with Mass Effect would flock to the city. I couldn't wait. I just needed a little more time to be my own version of Fem-Shep in the flesh.

As I popped my right earbud out, I heard the clamor of trashcans from the alley I just passed. The warnings Brett given me echoed in my head and I started to walk away. The occasional loud drunk I didn't have an issue dealing with, but at times they became more persistent than I could handle. In my hurry out the door I didn't bother to grab my pepper spray Brett begged me to strap on while I ran.

"Stop!" A gruff male voice called out behind me. I picked up the pace into a jog and followed the sidewalk around the corner. If I kept going the perp would fall behind and become distracted with something else. I just needed a little more distance. "Hey, I said stop!"

"No!" I called over my shoulder. I didn't need to look back to know the distance between us closed significantly over the last few seconds. If this drunk caught up to me so easily I needed to train harder. "Just… Go away!" I panted out between thuds on the concrete.

"Seriously?" My pursuer groaned and started into a full sprint.

I put everything I could into increasing my strides and speed. If Brett learned what happened the _I told you so's_ would never stop.

I timed things so I ran across the street at a red light before traffic started again. Only a moron wouldn't know they could end up splattered on the street if they didn't stop. I turned to look back, just in time to see a taxi slam into the aforementioned moron.

"Shit!" I screamed as my hands went up in the air. Horns blared and people stopped to gawk at the scene right in front of them. "No." I just watched as someone got themselves killed chasing me. I started to shake from the adrenaline and felt myself start to amble forward in disbelief. I killed an idiot on a late night run.

A groan came from the front of the car, a sign of life. I hurried to see around the front fender of the taxi just in time to see someone sit up. The person wore the most elaborate suit of black and grey armor I could have imagined. In fact, it looked familiar. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Maybe I hadn't gotten someone killed, just terribly maimed.

"Are you okay?" One of the gawkers tried to help the downed man back to his feet. He waved one hand at the person who talked to him and held his head with the other.

"Fine. I'll be fine." He looked up. "Ms. Ellison." The man grunted as he stepped to the side to catch his balance, apparently not _fine_ from his head on collision. "A word."

"Um." I motioned to the dent in front of the car. "You don't seriously think we can talk after… and I don't know you… and you chased me…" I tried to think, but it seemed impossible with what happened.

"This will be dealt with." He grabbed my wrist and started off in the direction we ran from in the first place.

"Hey!" I smacked his hand and took a few steps back. "Don't touch me!" The peopled around us stared, and at least one guy seemed to have his feathers ruffled from the way the stranger grabbed on to me. "You just wait for the cops."

The guy didn't say another word to me while we waited for the cops to show up. He gave me a few sideways glances, and I swore at least one I caught him checking me out. I attributed it to the newly gained brain damage and kept my distance.

When the police arrived, they saw to it we stood far from one another as we recounted our story of why the entire ordeal occurred in the first place. The officer seemed to believe me after twenty minutes of answering questions, and gave me the chance to call Brett while they talked to other key witnesses.

I swore Brett didn't hear half of what I told him on the phone. I imagined he stopped listening to anything after the mention of words "man" and "accident". His drinking buddy who remained at the house took the call from him half way through my story to get my current location.

"Ms. Ellison?" The police officer who took my statement came back up to me as I ended the phone call. "This guy over here says he knows you."

"No, that's not possible." I shook my head. "I've never seen him before in my life. I wouldn't have ran from him like some creep if I did."

"That's not the story we're getting. Apparently he says you two have spent a lot of time together. If you don't mind, we'd like to bring you down to the station for a few more questions." He reached for my shoulder to point me towards his vehicle.

"Wait, I'm being arrested?" I gawked at him and shrugged my shoulder to remove his hand from my skin. How did things come to this? "I'm telling you, sir, I've never seen this man before in my life. I don't even know his name."

"Richard Jenkins." The officer waited to see if the name registered. "He says you're his wife."

"Ha!" I cried out and slapped my thigh. Maybe it came from the shock of the cop's attempt to take me downtown, or maybe the exhaustion set in. The one thing I knew for certain, this moron of a man could not be my husband. "No, I'm not married. Not even close." I regained my composure. "My brother will be here in just a moment to tell you the truth. I swear, sir, I'm not married."

"Regardless, I'm going to need you to come down to the station." He reached for my shoulder a second time to escort me to his police car. "Just come with me, and we can work this all out."

"But I didn't do anything!" I raised my voice, upset things escalated to this. "I don't know him, AND he's the one who chased after me!" I pointed my finger at the armor clad idiot across the street. "Take his happy ass to jail, and just let me go home!"

"Alex, just get in the car!" I turned to see Brett, who must have arrived when the officer pointed me in the direction of his vehicle. He stood with the rest of the witnesses on the street, blocked by the police officers from getting to me. "Just do what he says, and I'll get it all sorted at the jail."

"Jail?" I felt tears prick my eyes. "What the hell, Brett? Tell them I'm not married and to let me go!" I tried to pull away from the officer. "I'm not going to jail!"

"Ma'am, at this time it's just questioning. We are happy to add resisting arrest if you would prefer to fight." The officer tried to smile. I wanted to punch him right in the smug grin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Interrogation**

After I sat in the interrogation room for the last hour, I became certain the smell of stale urine permeated my own skin. I told myself to be thankful the officers didn't see the need to place me in the drunk tank where only more issues could occur. I chalked it up to a win, and kept my forehead pressed against the white plastic table in the room.

The furniture appeared sparse from what I imagined a holding room to be like. Then again, I only could recall images from the cop shows Brett made me watch in the evenings. I guessed the officers didn't want their customers in a room with an abundance of breakable objects. People created weapons out of anything when desperation kicked in.

At least the table kept my hands from view. A plastic zip still bound them together so the officers didn't need to worry about an altercation with me. They did do me a favor and retied them in the front when we arrived at the station, so that could be seen as another win.

During my time in solitary, I tried to remember if I ever met a Richard Jenkins. I didn't have much a social life to speak of since classes took the majority of any free time, less the moments I worked on my cosplay outfit. Brett made the few female friends I had run in the other direction, and guys. . . I didn't even bother.

If I met him I felt sure I would have remembered. So who the hell was this idiot who got hit by the car?

The door opened and I lifted my head to see who decided to grace me with their presence. A slender, middle aged man cleared his throat.

"Ms. Ellison, I'm Detective Mike Roark. I've been assigned to your case." The smell of his cologne wafted into the room and displaced the awful scent I'd become accustomed to in the last hour. Mike fell into the category of a well-dressed man the moment I laid eyes on him. His grey slacks and light purple shirt placed him a slot above the average officer I already encountered. The greying hair and lines on his face put him in his middle forties. "I understand you've had a pleasant evening?"

"Hmm." I hummed. My butt started to feel numb from the way I folded my legs underneath me and I took the opportunity to reposition myself in my seat. "I guess you could say something to that degree."

Mike crossed the room to take a seat at the other side of the table. He placed a manila folder down and smiled at me, trying to make the visit seem a little more pleasant.

"It was a joke, Ms. Ellison." He crossed one leg over his knee. Confidence exuded from him as if this case warranted little concern to him personally. I felt sure we both knew there were better uses for his time. "You want to tell me how you ended up here?"

"A man chased me and got hit by a car." I rested my hands on the table, still bound together by the zip tie that started to rub the skin on my wrists raw. "He had some weird outfit on and claimed I knew him." I shrugged. "Next thing I knew they were taking us both in. I tried to tell the officer at the scene I didn't know anything, but…" I wiggled my fingers. "Here I am."

"And you don't know this, Richard Jenkins?" Mike's eyebrows rose and he opened the folder up on the table. "He says you two have been married for the last few years."

I tapped my ring finger on the table. "No, not married. Not even dating." I held up my hands. "No one is putting a ring on this anytime soon. I think my brother might have an issue if I did the one night thing in Vegas and didn't tell him."

"I see. How exactly, did you come across this guy tonight?"

"I went running like I always do. It's too warm during the day, and I have classes in the morning. Sunday night there aren't too many people on my normal route and bums don't bother me for the most part."

"You don't think there is a better place for someone like you to get some exercise?"

"What does that mean?" I countered. I hated it when someone tried to play the girl card when I got in a bad situation.

"I have a daughter your age and I just can't imagine her out late at night like this. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I can handle myself." I grunted and squinted my eyes. "Apparently."

"Apparently." Mike tapped the folder a few times. "Did he do anything to make you afraid of him?"

"Not really. I figured it was better to be in view of people when a crazy person came after you. I am a girl and might not be able to take care of myself." I rolled my eyes.

Mike chuckled a bit as I snapped about the comment about being a girl again. "Witnesses said you looked concerned when he was hit. Walked over to check on him to see if he was okay after the accident."

"Yeah, I did. I didn't want him to die. He might have been a raving lunatic, but I'm not the type to wish death on people."

"That's a good thing." Mike smiled and slid the file into my view. A picture of Richard Jenkins in his armor filled the page. "Don't recognize him or what he has on?"

I stuck out my hands and used my wrists to bring it better in view. His face didn't ring a bell, but the armor did. Especially the chest plate that looked the same as the one on my bedroom floor. I tapped my finger against it.

"This looks like something from a video game." I leaned down and tilted my head. "It looks really close to the armor I have at home."

"You have armor at home?" Mike rose his eyebrows. "You mind telling me what that's for?"

I shook my head. "Not real armor. I…" I stopped. To explain to a stranger I Cosplayed on my own time seemed a little ridiculous, but the current position didn't allow me to really lie to the Detective. "It's part of a costume I'm working on. He must be doing the same thing I am."

"What did you make yours from?"

"It's a little bit of plastic, some foam, things I learned from the internet." I stuck out my bottom lip and squinted. "It's not near as good looking as this. He must have spent some cash to have it made by a professional." A tinge of jealousy entered my voice as I took in the complexity of his suit. Anyone could tell a decent amount of time had been spent on the details. It looked like it had some wear from the gouges on the left side, but it added to the authentic appearance.

"What game is this from?" Mike took a pen out from his pocket, and scooted the file back over to himself.

"Mass Effect. There's an event at the Convention Center coming up. Maybe it's something he made for that?"

"I see." Mike scribbled something under the picture of Richard and then looked up at me. "I will mention, I checked your background too, Ms. Ellison. Nothing came up as to you being married."

"Yeah, I figured something like that would stand out in a memory of some sort." I snorted. "Not that I I'm trying to rush this whole thing, but what do you need from me with regards to all this?"

"Pick a better time to get you run in?" He clicked the pen and shoved it back into his pocket. "I'll need to get an official statement from you about the events of the evening. I'll have someone come in and bring you that paperwork to fill out."

"Great. So other than that, I'm free?"

Mike stood up and closed the folder, tapping its edge a few times against the table. "I believe so. Just make yourself at home in the meantime." He reached behind him and pulled out his wallet. "I'll give you my card just in case something else comes up, or you remember anything else about Mr. Jenkins."

I extended my hands and took the card from him. "Thank you, Mike."

"Have a good evening." The moment Mike walked out the door I started to wiggle in my seat. I just needed to deal with the terrible odor and small room a little longer before I could move on with life again.

I hoped things would have moved a little faster after the visit with the detective, though it seemed that was nothing more than wishful thinking. I killed time and tried to think of how to explain the situation to Brett without him going nuts. No matter the path I took, I figured I would get the same result in the end.

At least I knew I would make it home before he made a scene. As long as I could lock myself in me room, I might end up being spared another lecture.

A loud bang outside the door caused me to jump in my seat, ending my play through how things would go with my brother. I heard plenty of that sound on the hunts with my brother to recognize the noise of small arms fire. I dashed to the door and crouched down, hoping I would remain out of sight of anyone that passed by.

Two more shots fired and I felt my heart try to beat out of my chest. How did someone get inside the station with weapons? I fidgeted with my hands to see if I could work the binding loose, but only made the skin on my wrists more irritated.

Crap.

The door flung open. I nearly caught the full impact with my face, but instincts kicked in and my hands shot up. The momentum sent me onto my butt. I kept my arms up and peeked my face around to see who chose this room to barge in on.

"Alex, we have to go." There stood Richard Jenkins. His chest heaved underneath his armor as he tried to catch his breath. "Now!" He reached down to grab my hands.

I rolled onto my back and stuck out my legs to keep the distance between us. "Hell no!" I shifted my legs side to side in an attempt to move away from him. "Get away from me!"

"There isn't time for this." He came further into the room and towered over me. "We have to go!" He again made the motion to grab me.

"Like hell!" I kicked at his knee cap with all I had, hoping the armor would give in from the odd angle of the blow. I missed and Richard grabbed my foot to pull me towards him. I screamed as loud as I could to draw attention to the room. This was a police station where people came and went all hours of the day, where were all the cops?

Richard bent over and covered my mouth with his hand. "I know you don't understand this." He pulled me to my feet. "But I'm trying to help you."

I dropped an elbow to his side and bolted for the door of the interrogation room, desperation starting to sink in. If I didn't manage to get some distance between us, who knew what Richard would do to me.

"Alex!" He grabbed a fist full of my hair and yanked me back before I managed to step a foot outside. I stumbled into him as I tried to regain my balance.

"Let go!" I squirmed as I tried to pry his fingers from my scalp. "Let me go!" I dug my nails into his knuckles and attempted to hit him square in the stomach. Richard's fingers loosened and I didn't waste the chance to go for the door.

"Alex!" I heard him call out behind me as I ran the direction of the intake station. "Alex, wait!"

Scared of the murderer I left in the room behind me, I didn't don on me to worry about what waited up ahead. I counted three shots and hadn't seen a single dead officer yet. Either they made it out alive, or Richard wasn't the cause of the commotion.

I turned the corner in hopes of seeing a friendly face.

"Ellison." A monster stood in the middle of a hallway and motioned for me to come his direction. "Where's the kid?"

"Ka." I backtracked a few steps in the other direction. No wonder the bodies of officers weren't scattered on the ground. They shot at the thing and ran.

"Alex…" Richard came up behind me and held out his hands to stop me. "You have to listen."

"It. . . You?" I flinched. The two of them were in this together. I pointed at the beast who held his gun over his shoulder. "It-"

"I take offense to that, Ellison. I don't refer to you as an it." The giant creature swaggered forward.

"Run!" I shoved Jenkins in the chest as I tried to head back in the direction I just came from. Two arms wrapped around me and pulled me back in place.

"Alex, its Wrex." Richard whispered in my ear as the drive to fight left me. "He's here to help."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Bedside Manner**

"You didn't tell her."

"I didn't have time."

I squirmed in the grasp of Richard Jenkins. The moment I felt my back leave him, I threw my elbow up and back. He screeched as I connected with his nose. Free again, I focused on the giant in front of me.

"I see things haven't changed much." Wrex didn't deviate from the spot he took when I first laid eyes on him. He looked me over once and chuckled. "Ellison is still kicking your ass, Jenkins."

I turned to look at the man behind me, traces of red coating his hands as he held them up to his face. A string of curses poured from his mouth and ended up a jumbled mess as he danced around in pain. I focused on the krogan still in my way.

"I don't know what this is, or who you really are, but I'll be damned if you keep me from getting the through that door." I bent my knees and pointed behind him. "Move."

"Move?"

"As in get out of my way!" I yelled and started to sprint forward. I intended to use my body weight to slam into him just enough to knock him off balance. I didn't need to be heavy, I just needed him to topple enough to make it to that door without nabbing me by my neck.

I wrapped my arms around my waist as I connected with his upper thigh. I dropped my shoulder as if I practiced the tackle a dozen times on a football field. The krogan remained planted. The velocity of my hit coupled with the momentum behind it, sent my feet out from underneath me.

I landed on my back. Air escaped my lungs and I gazed up at the monster who now loomed over me. I wheezed and rolled to my side. "Shit."

"Now what was the point of that?" Wrex bent down and nudged my shoulder with the butt of his gun. He glared at me as I still worked to catch my breath. "Did that make you feel better?"

I held up my middle finger on one hand. My other supported me as I tried to find my bearings still scattered on the floor around me.

"We tried that route, Ellison. I was too much male for you." Wrex hummed to himself and raised his weapon back. "He should have knocked you out from the start."

Immense pain and the color red onset as things faded to black.

I pulled the blanket over my face and rolled over to get away from the light of the TV. I hated when I fell asleep with it on, though sometimes it beat the feeling of total darkness which could envelope the entirety of me. A throb of pain passed through the side of my face as I shifted position.

It donned on me then, I should not have been in bed. The pain from the side of my head rocketed through me when I shot up and ripped the blanket from my face. Who knew what Jenkins at that monster Wrex did with me after he cold cocked me with the hilt of his weapon?

"Alex." I turned to see the man who once wore armor wearing a white shirt and black combat pants. He sat on a bench beside the cot. "You okay?" He reached for the side of my face.

"Don't touch me." I swatted his hand and scooted away from him. "You kidnapped me, assaulted me, and who knows what else while you had me knocked out. Just what in the hell is wrong with you people?"

I touched the side of my face to feel for any damage that lingered. Pain trickled down my neck. They may have been nice enough to throw me on a cot, but not even a bandage was wrapped around my forehead.

"There's a reason for all this."

"Oh, there damn well better me." The floor and cot bounced, making me tighten my grip on the blanket. I blinked a few times in an attempt to rid the haze from my view.

Jenkins sat up a little straighter on the box beside the makeshift bed. "Travel can be a little bumpy at times. You'll get used to it."

"No, I won't, because you aren't keeping me here."

"I know you don't have any reason to believe a word I say, but I know you better than anyone else."

"Why, because in your crazy ass head we were married? I don't know you, I don't have any reason to want to get to know you."

"This is going to sound crazy, but yes."

"That's not cliché at all. I don't want to hear the whole, _this is going to sound crazy because it's coming from someone who is totally nuts_ crap. You need to let me go."

"If we didn't come for you now, they would have. I couldn't see you go through that again without some kind of understanding."

"What do I need to do make all this stop? The police were just gone. GONE. You get that, right? You killed officers and then took me away to this dark box. You don't think this sounds nuts?"

"I can prove it." Richard tapped his omni-tool. "I have a vid of the two of us making it official."

"You aren't answering my questions. You're just talking about us. THERE IS NO US!" I slammed my hand down against the blanket as if to punctuate my anger. "I don't care what you have. This isn't real. I was hit by the car and I'm in a coma. This is my nightmare."

"This is very real. What you believe is a game is in fact, a journal of things that haven't come to pass in this timeline. Liara-"

"Stop." I cut him off and turned in the bed. I needed to sit up and find the floor before I keeled over from the nausea that started to develop in the pit of my stomach. I put both feet against what looked to be metal. With both elbows rested on my knees, I faced Richard and poked at the side of my face again.

"I admit, this feels real enough. Let's take the trip to Crazy-town for a minute. This is real." My eyes locked on his as if to affirm what all me senses told me. "This isn't some stunt to teach me a lesson about running late at night by dark allies. Let's just assume this is real life for a moment. Why are you here?"

"Easy enough. Let's start with that." Richard smiled, a grin that I could totally see as cute if he wasn't some half-wit that locked me up in some bumpy ass cell. "I'm here to help you get ready for what's to come."

"That's not an answer." I raked my hands though my hair and closed my eyes to remember the game. "And how are you alive? You died in the first game. Blam!" I smacked my hands together. "First encounter with the geth and you keeled over. Dead, like really dead."

"Like I said, what you know about us has and hasn't happened yet. Dying is still a possibility."

"This is asinine. You're telling me Shepard, Thane, The Illusive Man. . . ."

"Real, real, and complicated."

"Everything about this sounds complicated." I sighed and leaned forward to wrap my hands under my knees. I needed to hold on to something. "So you aren't dead, and you're here to help me. Got it. But, you didn't tell me why you need me. Why am I here?"

"You were there in our reality at some point. You proved useful, even if you were once a Cerberus agent."

"Cerberus? As in the evil human company that tried to ruin everything? Oh joy." My eyes widened. "Am I here because I'm some arch nemesis you need to take out of the picture before I create havoc?"

"No."

"Is there a birth record of my existence? How I came to be here instead of 2016? Anything?"

"You didn't say much about where you came from and your records were unattainable even for the Shadow Broker. We know you were there because of your biotic ability. They honed that, and put you as a student under Kai Leng."

"The guy that killed Thane and caused all sorts of chaos? So I'm evil." I rose my eyebrows and brought my knees to my chest. Richard slid forward a bit and went to place his hand on my shoulder before I shot daggers at him.

"You were. You came to us on the Citadel and offered information about Cerberus. Shepard didn't want to believe you, in fact it was one hell of a fight. Your intel proved valuable, we started to trust you. You were one of us."

"That sounds like a cult."

"Far from it." Richard smiled. "You helped us more than you can imagine right now. That's why we came looking for you when things reset this time. We didn't understand it at first, but we learned from each trial. Right now we are starting the fifth cycle." Richard shifted after that announcement, as if the idea of doing these things over and over made him uncomfortable. "You made a difference at the end."

"Cycle. So you are doing this over and over again, expecting different results every time? You do know what the definition of insanity is. . ."

"Nothing is the same from one cycle to the next. We get to the end, Shepard is at the Catalyst, and then it resets. The people on the Normandy at the time don't seem to be affected."

"Okay. Let's say I believe you are in some cyclic hell where this crap is actually real and on repeat. If I'm Cerberus, and I'm evil, how did I end up in 2016?"

"The same way Liara tried to send a journal to the past and it became a game for human enjoyment." Richard shrugged. "You are and aren't from 2016."

"I'm going to throw up. Just stop explaining things. Just shut up, and let me think." I rested my forehead against my knees and instantly regretted it. I winced and adjusted to a place pain didn't radiate from my injury.

"I know it's a lot to take in."

"Cliché, and shut up. You just told me I am and am not from this time. You told me I'm evil, but you didn't tell me why you brought me back here."

"We need you to go back to Cerberus and take your original place."

"No." I didn't even have to think about it. "I don't know anything about them, you, or aliens in general. Why in the hell would I volunteer for something that sounds like certain death?" I peered over my knees at Richard, who seemed closer than he had before. "You've lost your damn mind."

"Alex, I know it's a lot to take in."

"Stop saying the same thing over and over like it's going to make it better. It's not." I wrapped my arms around my legs. "It doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense. You can't transplant me as some girl who knows nothing about the way this place works, and expect me to be some student under a killer. He will know, I will know, and then I will end up a little red stain in the cosmos."

"We have plans in motion for all of that. Cerberus was looking for you, which makes us believe they scouted you initially. We are simply going to ensure you land right in their laps." Richard grinned and rubbed his hands through his brown hair.

I drank him in for a moment. He seemed certain of himself, as if he had this conversation before and knew what the outcome would be. Part of me loathed his smugness, but I admitted there was a draw to him. He wasn't the boyish idiot you saw in the first game.

Game. I shook myself from whatever sinful ideas managed to propagate in my head. Obviously I had a concussion which would require treatment of some sort. I found myself attracted to my kidnapper, who had to be a part of some coma based dream induced from the moment I was hit by a moving car.

I dropped my knees back to the floor. "Okay, let's say I'm going to buy into this dream. If I'm dying in a hospital somewhere and need to be entertained while my body heals, I can go with all this." I cleared my throat. "It beats my brother pounding on my door and giving me a lecture. I'm in, I guess."

"Good." Richard offered his hand to me. "Nice to meet you, Alex Ellison. I'm Richard Jenkins. Let me introduce you to the Commander of Operations here on the Normandy."

I took his hand and wobbled as I tried to find my footing. "Normandy. As in THE NORMANDY?"

"That's the one. Though I should tell you, Shepard isn't going to be thrilled about seeing your face again. You have to understand you two don't have the best relationship."

"That sounds promising." I dropped his hand and waited for him to lead me wherever the Commander was. "Um, Is Shepard male or Female?"

"She is a female, her name is Jane." Richard cracked a smile. "You and she have a very tainted history."

"Great. I love making first impressions. Mind filling me in?"

"I knew we had to find you after the last go round. In the third cycle you weren't on the Normandy so the fourth cycle reset your location. You were part of Cerberus and couldn't be convinced to work with us."

"Back to evil Alex being evil." I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to that idea."

"Let's just say it caused issues. You weren't on the Normandy when we made the last attempt to end this war. I had to find you to be sure you were on our side this time."

"Because?"

"I had to stop you from killing Shepard."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Next Steps

"I did what?" The tread of my sneakers sealed to the floor. I tried to open my mouth to ask the next logical question, because I couldn't come up with a single skill that would serve to kill an N7 marine. As far as I could tell, I could barely handle hunting and killing when I went camping with my brother.

"Hey." Richard put a hand on each shoulder. "I know you, even better than you know yourself. That wasn't the Alex we all know, even Shepard's said it herself. It's fine." He ruffled my hair and grabbed my wrist.

"Because killing the so called 'savior of our kind' is something you just drop on a girl."

"There are worse things."

"Don't mention them." I continued in a daze while Richard came to a stop in front of the elevator.

"Remember, you eventually became a part of this crew. There was more to you than killing."

"Like?"

"You rescued a varren cub on one mission and snuck it onboard without Shepard knowing. It lasted about two days. It managed to crawl inside of the air ducts when you left it alone to go out on a mission. Somehow it ended up in Liara's room, and well. . . Let's just say you two didn't speak for a while."

I snickered at that. "I never liked cats."

"Neither did Liara." The elevator door opened and Richard pulled me inside with him. "You also had a tendency to sing these awful classic songs when you were on mission. Garrus took shot at you for it on more than one occasion."

"I thought you said these were good things?"

"You brought balance to things. All the seriousness and infighting always fell to the side when you came around."

I leaned against the cool plating of the elevator and cocked my head to the side. "So how did we end up dating?"

"Married." Richard corrected me as the doors closed. "It was before our final mission on the third cycle. We made the decision to take a leap."

"Sounds like all I did was make you a young widow." I shrugged. "Guess you are calling this whole thing a do over."

"Don't say it like that." He turned to look away from me and made a fist with his hand. "Things went wrong really quickly. I didn't have a chance to-"

"Hey, I'm not exactly upset I died. I didn't even know I lived, right?" I shrugged and changed the subject. "So… What did I do to come onboard as part of this crew?"

"Betrayed Cerberus. We don't know much more than you do when to on how you ended up there. You told us you just seemed to pop into existence on a table in a lot of pain. We do know you were well trained, genetically enhanced, and one hell of a biotic who apprenticed with Kai Leng."

"I have zero biotic abilities." I opened and closed my hands a few times. "You have to be exposed to Eezo, and it doesn't exist where I'm from. Want to explain that one to me?"

"I can't." He paused.

"Let's just add that to the top of the pile." I changed weight from foot to foot. "Are you sure bringing me here was a good idea? It sounds like it would have been better to just leave me be on Earth out of the way."

"Being that we don't know how you ended up with Cerberus in the first place, and last time you kind of ruined the grand finale, we made the decision to bring you on board early."

"And if I kill Shepard all over again?"

"I can't answer that either. I'm honestly just a grunt following orders."

"What about the fact you time traveled to 2016?"

"Call it space magic."

"Does that mean you don't get it?"

"Liara explained it to me. Once. It took the better half of a day and I still didn't get all the ends and outs of it. I know we had to travel to this old relay, then there was some fighting, then there was a lot of light, then we went through it." He shrugged his shoulders.

"This keeps getting better. Let's count all the positive attributes I've acquired since I've met you, shall we? Killer. Murderer. Potential mate for Wrex. Romantic prospect for the crew. Oh, I didn't happen to be drug runner or something else equally nuts, did I?" The elevator bounced as it came to a stop, and I peeled my skin from the cool metal plating. "And let's not forget you don't know anything about the situation you're going to try to stick me in with Cerberus. I might be signing my own death certificate to boot."

"Don't dwell on it. Things happened, lots of crazy things. I have you here, and you will make all of this right. I know it."

"Maybe you can just take me back to my bed. I'll go to sleep, and we forget this whole thing happened? Maybe the coma gods will send me dreams of a hot surfer guy who wants to rub oil all over me on a remote beach." I back peddled a few steps when Richard grabbed my hand to stop me.

"I'll ignore the notion of another man touching you." He raised one eyebrow. "You might not have the memories of us, but I do. So tread lightly." Richard yanked me forward, interlocking his fingers with mine. "We need to make a few stops before we make a formal introduction, so you have a bit of time before you really need to stress out. Chakwas will want to run a few scans and ensure you're in good shape, and your head needs treatment too. I'll go ahead and requisition some kind of uniform for you so you aren't running around half naked. Not that I mind, but. . ."

"I mind." I felt his hand squeeze mine as we stepped out of the elevator.

"Remember it's not only Shepard you have a history with on this ship. We all know you in some capacity. Granted, some of us liked you more than others did, and some of your relationships were . . . unique."

"That explains Wrex." I scrunched up my face as I plodded along a few steps behind him. "So, we weren't always together?"

"No, I'm reminded of that more often than I like."

"Oh? Don't tell me I slept around? I mean, I romanced almost all the guy options in game, but here—"

"You didn't sleep around." Richard cut me off and shook his head no. "It wasn't like that. Did you date others? Yes. Have we always been together? No. It's not the point. I want you to choose me on your own. Not Garrus, or Thane, or Liara. Me. It's important you come to me because you want to."

"And if I don't happen to choose you?"

"Oh, you will." He grinned and cocked his head to the side as we walked. "I don't doubt that for a minute."

"I think I liked the optimistic kid in the game more than the smug asshole in front of me." I grinned against my better judgment. I didn't need him to believe he stood a chance. "Besides, Garrus had his moments. Have you ever seen him dance?"

I continued to take in the ship as we walked. The grating, the metal panels, the banter from the people in the mess, all tangible for the first time. Even the smell of the air made me want to squeal like a true fan girl. I remained lost in my thoughts until Jenkins walked through the medical bay doors.

Doctors and I had a tainted run together. It probably came from the fact that after a year of radiation therapy for cancer I still received a biopsy on a regular basis. Not to mention that "In remission" wasn't the hottest pick up line for a guy.

My brother took me to my appointments since I never seemed to make it there on my own accord. At my worst, the smell of the office induced sessions of nausea that needed days to overcome.

"Ellison." Chakwas stood from her chair and approached me with a smile. "Good to see you in the flesh once more."

"Have you seen me out of the flesh?"

"Ah, I see the cycle's effects of forgetfulness are in full force." She put a hand on each of my shoulders. "Still, it's good to see your face again."

"It's good to see you?" I looked to Richard as if I needed some affirmation this greeting from her was normal. He nodded his head and tried to hide his amusement.

"I suppose you'd like treatment from your little run in with Wrex." She reached out to my face. "He's done worse to lesser creatures."

"Being that I'm still alive and kicking, I would have to agree." I walked over to the chair Chakwas motioned to and took a seat. The chair felt oodles better than being placed on a table so I attempted to relax.

"And Jenkins, ever the knight in shining armor, how is it to have Alex by your side once more?"

"We aren't together." I quipped.

"Ah."

"I'm letting her make her own decisions, Doc."

"You and I both know what happened the first time you two decided to go down this path." Chakwas leaned in. "I believe he became a better man for it."

"And that's my queue to leave. I'm going to see about a possible uniform for Alex. I'll be back when you two are finished."

"Yes, leave us girls to have a chat, right Alex?"

"Sure." Chakwas turned the chair to face her as Richard left my peripheral vision. The one person who seemed quasi-normal left me alone with a Doctor who would do who knew what to me.

"Let's get started." Chakwas tilted my head back and held up a glowing orange device to the side of my face. I felt tempted to reach out and touch it, but worried it would shine into my eyes and fry my brain. "With no memories of the past you've found yourself at quite a disadvantage."

"That's starting to sink in. Have you been here the whole time, or uh… the cycles?"

"I've been here since the beginning."

"And how many times have I been with you?"

"You came aboard and changed our world on the third cycle."

"Not sure if you make that sound like a good thing or a bad thing."

"Hmm. You weren't the most trusted and well liked individual when you first graced us with your presence. Who could blame the crew? After some time it became undeniable you belonged here with us."

"But I didn't stay with you?"

"No. We lost you in the battle for Earth. When the cycle started again, Jenkins reached out for you on his own volition. The consequences of that were present on the Citadel. You do have quite the stubborn streak." Chakwas pulled back her device and tapped the screen a few times. "Your scans already indicate high levels of stress."

"Can't say I would disagree with that." I eyed her, waiting for the mention of my medical prognosis. The feeling never became any easier to deal with and wait on. Years of doctor's appointments taught me that. "So?"

"You have a minor concussion, but nothing that I can't remedy for you."

"That's it?"

"For the time being, that's all we need to address."

I hated that answer. It didn't tell me if I was going to die of the same horrible disease that had eaten at my soul and body. Chakwas stood and walked over to grab something from one of the cabinets.

"You really didn't see anything else?"

"Keep in mind that if we do anything to alter the person you are, we may have a more difficult time introducing you to Cerberus. The fabric of these cycles can be quite easy to change, and there are precautions we all need to take."

"That. . . makes sense." I rubbed my hands over my arms when Jenkins walked back through the door.

"Found you a jumpsuit. Looks like it belonged to Williams, so you shouldn't have any issues fitting in to it." He tossed it over to me.

"This is a uniform?" I held it up. "You people don't leave much to the imagination, do you?"

"Hey, that works both ways." Richard motioned to himself. "Not that I don't have the muscles to pull this off." He struck a pose and flexed.

Chakwas laughed to herself and walked back over shaking her head. "You can change just back there. Once you're ready Jenkins will take you to meet the Commander."

I tugged at the collar of the jumpsuit. It looked like the newest version of Ashley's attire, and smelled like lavender. I figured Richard must have asked her for it out of her own assortment of clothing rather than actually requisition anything special for me. So much for him earning any brownie points.

"That material doesn't have the give you are looking for." Richard snorted as he leaned his shoulder against the elevator panel. "Pull all you want, it's going to be exactly the same."

"How you can all walk around looking so exposed is beyond me." I pulled at the fabric on the sleeve. "It's like this is painted on."

"Excess material can cause issues."

"This thing is already an issue in itself." I dropped my hands and tucked the loose strands of hair behind my ears. "So honestly, how bad is this going to be?"

"Don't talk back to her and you'll be fine."

"Meaning?"

"You have a tendency to get a little mouthy with her. Like I mentioned, we all know who you are, even if you don't know us personally."

"So don't smart off. Got it." I nodded my head once. "Who is she shipped with anyway?"

"Who is she dating?"

"Right."

"That's complicated." Richard looked away from me and focused on the door. "She doesn't really refer to it as dating."

"Whatever she calls it herself doesn't matter. Who is she with?" I put my hands on my hips and waited for an answer when the door started to open.

"Alex." Her green eyes looked down at me and I knew instantly I stared at the woman herself. "Meeting you without a weapon in your hand, can't say that's happened before."

"Nice to, um, meet you?" It came out as a question since I didn't know just how to respond to the woman. "Jane?"

"You can call me Commander Shepard, or Shepard." She gestured for me to step off the elevator. "Let's not get too friendly too fast."

"Okay." I stepped out, looking back at Richard to see if he would follow.

"Jenkins, I can take this from here. You head down to inspect the progress Wrex has made."

"Understood." Jenkins shrugged and smiled at me one last time before the elevator door closed.

What the hell did I just get in to?


End file.
